(Ridley Scott/2014/USA,
UK & Spain)
Having
breathed life back into Roman and Greek classical history genre with
2001’s Gladiator, Ridley Scott tackles the biblical epic here but
falls way short of the mark. I’m not sure what the attraction was
for an outspoken atheist to make a film about a religious myth but
the obvious pitfall of that situation is the lack of connection with
the source material. As a result the film is an exercise in big
budget action dressed up in historical drama but missing any proper
spiritual core which, ultimately, is the point of the story of Moses.
The focus is all on effects and battle action and even when the story
rolls around to Moses’ spiritual crisis it is without any real
religious zeal. The voice of god is embodied in the form of a child,
Malak (The Hebrew name for angel), this immediately removes direct
contact with the divine being and you have Christian Bale seeking the
advice of an invisible child for the remainder of the film.
Exodus is
really centred on the rivalry of Moses and Ramesses, his adoptive
cousin who becomes King of Egypt and with whom Moses struggles to
free the Hebrews from their enslavement. Scott can’t help tinkering
with the story instead of playing it straight and as a result it
begins to ring hollow. The plagues almost seem as a by the way, over
and done within a few minutes so the story can progress to the chase
to the Red Sea. And that scene itself has a pompous standoff between
Moses and Ramesses in the shadow of the waves of the sea crashing
back after the Hebrews have passed through. This is the bible dude,
you can’t just start making up shit. The pacing is off kilter at
times too and at two and a half hours it’s just not worth the
effort. A big budget misfire from Scott and along with Aronofsky’s
Noah it looks like 2014 wasn’t a great year for resurrecting the
biblical epic in cinema.
(1.5/5)
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